Original subtitles

? What would you do if I sang out of tune? ?

? Would you stand up and walk out on me? ?

? Lend me your ears, and I'll sing you a song ?

? I will try not to sing out of key, yeah ?

? Oh, baby, I get by ? ? By with a little help from my friends ?

? All I need is my buddies ?

? High with a little help from my friends ?

? I'm sayin' I'm gonna get higher ? -? Try with a little help from my friends ?

- ? Whoa-oa-oa-oa, yeah ? - ? Ooh, ooh, ooh ?

[ "There's No Business Like Show Business" plays ]

Robert F. Kennedy Junior High

Had a long, proud theatrical tradition.

Who could forget Scotty Grunewald's

Tortured John Proctor in "The Crucible"

Or Tony Faranucci's towering Tavy

In "Fiddler on the Roof"?

Sure, it wasn't Broadway.

But for many of us, the excitement of an opening night

Brought out one undeniable feeling.

[ music slows, stops ] total apathy.

[ Indistinct conversations ]

Students, if I may, a moment of your time.

[ Talking continues ]

Students!

- Who's that? - Shh.

It's Mr. Weber, the new dramatics teacher.

Geek.

Definite geek.

He's not a geek.

He's just... Dramatic.

[ Hands clap, talking stops ]

The fall play this year

Will be Thornton Wilder's "Our Town."

Auditions will take place this afternoon.

I invite all of you to come.

Be a part of this haunting tapestry of memory and dreams.

[ Footsteps depart, talking resumes ]

At the buzzer. He shoots.

Do you think I should do it?

Do what?

Try out for the play.

You're kidding, right?

I'd had some experience in this field myself...

Last year in Miss White's class...

So I knew whereof I spoke.

No. That'd be a bad idea, Winnie.

Why? I think it could be fun.

Fun?

Do you know how many speeches you have to memorize?

I mean, it's like taking 18 biology tests.

I'm a pretty good memorizer.

[ Scoffs ] not to mention it's horrible.

I mean, you're standing out there all alone,

And your... your ears start to sweat.

No. No. I don't recommend it.

I probably wouldn't be good anyway.

Okay, so I'd rained on her parade.

I had to set her straight.

No one in their right mind volunteers to be in a play.

I'm gonna try out for that play. How about you?

Says here you get out of seventh period for rehearsals.

Seventh period?

Gym?!

Count me in.

Welcome. Thank you all for coming.

Maybe this guy Weber was a geek,

But he was a smart geek.

Theater offers you a chance to surprise yourself,

To find a part of you you didn't know you have.

Choose a role that speaks to you in some way.

I think I'll try out for the stage manager.

Are you crazy?

That's the biggest part in the play.

Yeah. I noticed.

That was Paul for you... part ham, mostly baloney.

Me, I was looking for something with less visibility,

Preferably with no lines to learn,

Something simple, like...

Bingo.

Spotlight operator.

Eat your heart out, seventh period.

- Paul Pfeiffer. - [ Clears throat ]

"The name of our town is Grover's Corners, New Hampshire,

Just across the Massachusetts line."

Yep. Not for me, the pressures of auditioning.

Heck, this thing wouldn't even be turned on

Till the night before the play.

"the first act shows a day in our town.

"The date is May 7, 1901.

The time is just before dawn."

Thank you, Mr. Pfeiffer.

That was, uh...

[ inhales deeply ] ...Unique.

Thanks!

Ah.

Gwendolyn Cooper reading for the part of Emily.

But wait a minute.

Winnie, what are you doing?

"As for me, I'd rather have my children healthy

Than bright."

"I'm both, Mama. You know I am.

"I'm the brightest girl in school for my age.

I have a wonderful memory."

Well, she couldn't say I didn't warn her.

"Emily, walk simply.

Who do you think you are today?"

"Papa, you're terrible.

"One minute you're telling me to stand up straight,

And the next minute, you call me names."

Still, she wasn't awful.

"I just can't sleep yet, Papa.

"The moonlight's so wonderful.

And the smell of Mrs. Gibbs'..."

Heliotrope.

"...Heliotrope."

[ sniffs ]

"Can you smell it?"

You had to admire her guts.

Thank you, Gwendolyn.

I just hoped she wouldn't be too crushed

When she didn't get the part.

I got the part!

Yeah. Well, uh... I figured you would.

Isn't it amazing?!

Yeah.

Uh, I mean no.

I have to go.

I have to call my Mom at home and my Dad in Chicago.

What time is it in Chicago?

Well, it was good to see her smiling.

But there's a broken heart for every light on Broadway.

[ sighs ] struck out.

You didn't get a part?

Not even the belligerent man in the back of the auditorium.

"Is there no one in town aware of social injustice

And industrial inequality?"

Huh?

That's the belligerent man's line.

I couldn't get it. [ Sighs ]

Now we'll never know

If there is a part of me I didn't know I had.

[ Sighs ]

I'll tell you what.

Why don't you work the spotlight with me?

The spotlight?

Yeah. Why not?

You know, Mr. Weber says that lighting

Is like another character in the play.

He said that?

And besides, we get out of seventh period and...

Amajor character?

Uh-oh. I knew that look...

The look of a man possessed.

I think it sounds like fun.

I used to love school plays.

What are you playing, a buttercup?

Heh.

"Our town."

That's the one about the girl who falls in love

And then she dies,

But she comes back for one last visit to see her family?

Mom, "our town" is an indictment

Of the meaninglessness

Of bourgeois middle-class existence.

Oh.

How much is it gonna cost me?

Dad, as always, had his own perspective on the arts.

Jack.

Just asking.

Who else is in it?

Uh, no one...

Except Winnie.

Well, then we have to go.

Huh?

Nice going, butthead.

Look, Mom, it's really not...

Kevin, get tickets for all of us.

I always expect a man to be perfect,

And I think he should be.

Oh, I-i don't think it's possible to be perfect, Emily.

My own opinion was my Dad had the right idea.

What was the big deal about all this?

Candlepower.

Huh?

Did you know this baby pumps out

750,000 candles of light?

Paul, it's not even turned on yet.

Yeah, but when she does, pow-wee.

I should have seen it coming.

Paul had found his calling.

You know, Kev, it only takes one guy to run this thing,

And I was just wondering if, you know...

Paul.

You want to run the spotlight? Fine with me.

Really? You don't mind?

Thanks, Kev. I won't let you down.

I'm gonna run the best spotlight this school ever saw.

And you can still be my assistant.

Assistant?

Darn it!

I forgot my line again.

I guess Winnie was having problems of her own.

I just can't seem to remember anything.

Just relax, Gwendolyn.

Let's take it from, uh, "giving away my daughter."

I'm giving away my daughter, George.

Do you think you can take care of her?

Mr. Webb, I want to. I want to try.

Emily, I'm gonna do my best.

I love you, Emily. I need you.

Well, if you love me, then help me.

All I want is someone to love me.

I will, Emily. Emily, I'll try.

"And I mean..."

And I mean...

"...Forever..."

[ sighs ] forever.

"Don't you hear? Forever and ever."

[ sighs ]

Let's take five, people.

Oh, hey, Kev. Make a note.

We're gonna need another chamois.

What?

Well, since you're my assistant,

I thought you might keep a list.

Paul, I'm not gonna keep a list.

Okay. Fine. I'll do it myself.

But we're gonna have to talk about your attitude.

Paul was taking this whole thing a little too seriously.

[ door slams ]

Kevin, did you see what happened today?

Come to think of it,

Everyone was taking this play too seriously.

I forgot all my lines.

Yeah. Well, it's...

I never forget things. I'm a good memorizer.

Winnie, I wouldn't worry about it.

I'm sure you'll be fine.

But what if I'm not?

What if it gets worse?

What if I wreck the whole play?

Well, Winnie, you don't have to do it if you don't want to.

I mean, it's just a play.

And it's all just to get out of seventh period, anyway.

That's the most insensitive thing

I've ever heard in my life.

You don't understand anything, Kevin.

You don't understand anything at all.

Actors.

Over the next two weeks,

I learned a valuable lesson about show folk.

Can't talk now, Kevin.

They make lousy lunch companions.

Meanwhile, I had problems of my own.

My relationship with Paul had deteriorated

Into a classic labor-management confrontation.

Kevin, I need you to do something for me.

No. I'm on break.

Look, Kev, I know you're having troubles

Taking orders from me 'cause I'm your friend.

Paul, I'm having troubles taking orders from you

'cause you've completely lost your mind.

I mean, you can't even turn that thing on till next Monday.

So why don't you just sit back, relax, and enjoy it?

I'm relaxed.

I-it's just that what if the bulb burns out during the show?

Paul, it's a brand-new bulb that's never been used once.

You can't guarantee that, can you?

I think we should time how long it'll take

To get to the utility room and back with a new bulb.

Good idea.

You do it.

Fine.

You think you can time me, or is that too much to ask?

Go.

There. At last. A little peace and quiet.

No, no, no, no, no.

You can't play Mrs. Soames silly.

She ha... [ banging ]

She has dignity.

Can we hold the work, please?!

Even Mr. Weber was showing the pressure.

She has dignity.

"Don't know when I've seen such a lovely wedding."

"But I always cry."

"Don't know why it is..."

"but I always cry."

"I just like to see young people happy, don't you?"

"Oh, I think it's lovely."

[ applause ]

[ Clears throat ] none of that.

We have barely a week to go. Gwendolyn?

The fact was, with just a few days left,

Winnie seemed more lost than ever.

[ sighs ] why can't I stay for a while, just as I am?

Let's go away.

No, no, Emily. Now, stop and think a minute.

Don't you remember what you used to say?

Heck, even I knew the lines by now.

"all the time, you used to say..."

All the time, you used to say...

I can't do this! I'll never be able to do it!

This wasn't just stage fright.

This girl was in trouble.

- Kevin, what was my time? - I got to go.

One thing I asked of you... one thing!

Winnie!

Winnie, wait up!

What's your advice now?

Quit school, lock myself in my room, change my name?

Okay. Forget it.

I'm just trying to help.

Mr. Weber says it's quite natural.

All actors go through this, even Laurence Olivier.

Oh. Well, that's good, I guess.

[ Sighs ]

You were right. I shouldn't have done this.

I should just quit. I have an understudy.

I'm sure she'd be better than me.

Let's face it. She couldn't be any worse.

What do you think I should do?

I think you should...

Do whatever you want to do.

I want to quit.

Then I think you should quit.

- I can't quit. - Why not?

My father's coming to see me.

He's flying in from Chicago just to see the play.

Mom and Dad haven't seen each other for two months.

Oh.

Is there anything I can do?

You could tell me to break a leg.

But the play's not for a week.

No, I mean really break a leg.

That way, I won't have to do it.

Then... Break a leg.

But just Winnie's luck, the night of the performance,

She was still in perfect health.

[ Indistinct conversations ]

[ Clattering ]

I guess everyone was feeling a little tense...

Especially Winnie's parents.

But at least I could relax.

I had complete confidence in Paul.

Paul? Paul?

[ Door opens ]

Ah. Kevin.

Paul is ill.

- Ill?! - Just a little case of nerves

But you'll have to run the spotlight.

But Paul knows the cues! I can't...

There's no time. You'll just, uh, have do the best you can.

Wait. Mr. Weber!

[ Door closes ]

Great.

Paul had been stricken

With the world's first documented case

Of backstage fright,

And I had to pick up the pieces...

In the dark.

This play is called "our town."

[ applause ]

Well, I'd better show you how our town lies.

I didn't even know how this thing worked.

[ squeaking ]

Up there is main street.

Uh, that... that is, up there.

It was horrible.

I could feel my ears starting to sweat.

Way back there is the railway station.

Tracks go that way.

[ laughter ]

It was humiliating. I wanted to just walk away.

There are the children coming home from school already.

But then...

I can't, Lois. I've got to go home and help my mother.

I promised.

Then I realized I couldn't walk away.

Emily. Walk simply. Who do you think you are today?

Papa, you're terrible.

One minute you tell me to stand up straight,

And the next minute, you call me names.

I just don't listen to you.

Golly.

I never got a kiss from such a great lady before.

She looked beautiful...

And terrified.

And I knew she needed me.

Those next few minutes

Seemed to last a thousand years.

Every moment was potential disaster.

Why can't I stay for a while, just as I am?

We were both struggling.

Don't you remember what you used to say?

All the time, you used to say...

And then a weird thing happened.

I was holding the light on Winnie

When everything got very quiet.

And I felt something. I don't know what it was.

I felt like I was holding her up with that light...

That we were connected by the light.

And I wouldn't let her fall.

Come on.

Just keep going.

That I was your girl.

There must be lots of places we can go.

I'll work for you. I can keep the house.

No matter what, I wouldn't let her fall.

Oh, Mama, just look at me for a Moment

As though you really saw me.

That night, I learned something

About courage... And maybe about love.

Mama, 14 years have gone by.

I'm dead.

You're a grandmother, Mama.

But just for a Moment now, we're all together...

Mama, just for a Moment, let's be happy.

Let's look at one another.

I can't. I can't go on!

It goes so fast.

We don't have time to look at one another.

Take me back... Up the hill to my grave.

But first...

Wait.

One more look.

[ Sighs ]

Goodbye.

Goodbye, world.

Goodbye, Grover's Corners...

Mama and Papa.

Goodbye to clocks ticking...

And Mama's sunflowers...

And food and coffee...

And new, ironed dresses...

And hot baths and sleeping and waking up.

Oh, earth, you're too wonderful for anybody to realize you.

Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it,

Every, every minute?

No.

The saints and poets, maybe.

They do, some.

I'm ready to go back.

Hmm. 11:00 in Grover's Corners.

You get a good rest, too. Good night.

I couldn't exactly say we made theater history

That autumn evening.

Maybe we weren't even very good.

The thing is, it didn't matter.

We made it through.

And the critics were kind.

And a week later,

Mr. Cooper moved back in with his family.

[ shutter clicks ]

Repair and Synchronization by Easy Subtitles Synchronizer 1.0.0.0